The US and South Korea Request the Extradition of Terra Co-Founder Do Kwon

Authorities in the US and South Korea have made efforts to extradite Terra co-founder Do Kwon to their countries following his arrest in Montenegro.

At a press conference on March 29, Montenegrin Justice Minister Marko Kovač stated that the US has made diplomatic efforts to request Kwon’s extradition, while South Korean officials have also requested extradition. Kovač made this announcement after Kwon’s arrest at the Montenegrin airport in Podgorica on March 23, adding that the detention of the Terra co-founder has been extended for 30 days.

– In cases where we receive multiple extradition requests, I would like to say that the determination of which country he will be extradited to is based on several factors such as the severity of the committed crime, the place and time of the crime, the resolution by which we received the extradition request, and several other factors – said Kovač.

Kovač stated that decisions regarding Kwon’s custody will be referred to the High Court of Montenegro. According to the Justice Minister, the Terra co-founder allegedly used forged passports during his stay in Montenegro and may serve a sentence in the country related to those charges if convicted before any extradition.

Kwon’s whereabouts have largely been unknown since the collapse of Terra in May 2022, although he has often been active on his Twitter profile and stated that he is putting ‘zero effort into hiding’ in September. In February, reports suggested that Kwon may have traveled to Serbia after Interpol issued a Red Notice for his temporary arrest.

The South Korean national is likely to face criminal prosecution in his home country, where Terraform Labs is headquartered, and authorities have already targeted individuals involved in the platform’s collapse. At the time of publication, it was unclear where Terra co-founder Daniel Shin was located, but Kwon’s associate Han Chang-Joon was also arrested in Montenegro.

It is unclear which country, if any, would have the highest likelihood of Kwon’s extradition being granted. The situation echoes the attempts by the United States to gain custody of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who was in the Bahamas at the time of the company’s collapse.